


Something Blue

by LadyKnightSkye



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Admittedly most of the redemption happens off screen, Ben is planning a wedding, Canon Divergent - The Last Jedi, F/M, HEA, Post-TLJ, Redemption, Rey Nobody, not TROS compliant, reylo prompt fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22262296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKnightSkye/pseuds/LadyKnightSkye
Summary: Prompt fill.Kylo Ben is planning a wedding. Somehow, Rey actually ends up going along with this.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 60
Kudos: 137
Collections: Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I saw the prompt, and it spoke to me on a soul level. This is going to be very short because I’ve already got so many fics on my plate, but I should be able to have it completely posted by the end of the weekend since I only have to finish writing the last couple of parts. 
> 
> Prompt can be found here - [Prompt Tweet](%E2%80%9C)

When Rey felt the opening of the Bond, she nearly growled out loud. She was in the middle of dinner with Finn, Poe, Rose, and General Organa, and it would not do for her to reveal what was going on. In the week since they’d escaped Crait, she’d refused to tell anyone about the strange yet strangely wonderful bond she’d formed with Ben. She still wasn’t sure if she was mad or not, but had decided that anger was probably the best approach to dealing with him should the Bond open again.

Too bad she hadn’t counted on this.

Ben was blinking up at her from his desk, but instead of field reports or personnel files - things that continually cluttered Poe and General Organa’s stations day in and day out - his had flowers strewn all about it. He looked a bit wide eyed at seeing her, but then one corner of his mouth twitched. “Just in time. What color flower would you prefer?”

Rey took a deep breath through her nose, and tried her level best to completely ignore him. Poe was discussing troop movements with General Organa while Finn and Rose shyly flirted. She hoped none of them noticed anything off.

“Come now,” he said softly, “you’re usually quite opinionated - oh! You’re not alone are you?”

She shook her head slightly, which drew General Organa’s eye to her. The older woman cocked a brow. “Nothing,” Rey answered, aware that the other Force Sensitive had not missed the strange gesture.

“I’m partial to the red myself,” Ben continued, “for obvious reasons, but blue is nice too.”

Rey couldn’t stand it anymore. “Excuse me,” she said, rising from the table and walking out the door. She ignored her friend’s curious stares, and trotted to her room. When she closed the door, she glanced behind her. Usually the bond didn’t travel, but she could tell from the raised hair on the back of her neck that this time it had. “What are you doing?”

He nodded. “So you got away from them. Good. What’s your favorite color?”

“What?”

“What is your favorite color? You are the bride after all,” he said blithely.

Rey blinked rapidly. “I’m the wot?”

“The bride.” He looked back up at her, his lips curling up into what passed for his smile. It was a half-hearted thing. “You and I are meant to be together. You will turn, and when you do, I wish to have the wedding planned in advance.”

She continued to blink incredulously. “You. Are planning. _Our wedding._ ”

“Yes.”

“That’s insane!” She waved her hands in the air like a mad woman. “We are not engaged!”

“But we will be,” he replied blandly.

“No! We won’t!”

With sudden intensity he snapped, “Call me a monster.”

She reared back, caught off guard. “No!” She put her face in her hands. “Look, fine, my favorite color is green.”

“Good.” He nodded. “The colors will be green and blue then. I quite like these Naboo Hydrangea, and I think they have a green variety.”

“What are the red ones?”, she asked, pointing to a bud of deepest crimson.

“Those? Those are Roses of Alderaan. They’re one of the few flowers left of that planet. Very rare still, but the florist I consulted knows exactly who to contact for them.” He picked it up and offered it to her.

Without thinking, she took it. The petals were velvety soft under her fingers. “It’s gorgeous.”

He turned back to the desk and grabbed the hydrangea, and held it up to the rose. “Perhaps we should do blue and red?”

“That is a lovely color scheme,” she agreed before she violently shook her head. “What! No! I’m not picking out color schemes with you! We are not getting married!”

But that was when Ben faded, and Rey was left all alone in her room. Holding a flower that should not have been there. She looked again at the rose, waiting for it to fade away, but all it did was faintly perfume the air. After several long moments, she brought it to her lips. The petals were silky smooth, and she let herself wonder for a moment what it would be like to actually have Ben for a fiancé.

* * *

The next time it happened, Rose was in the room with Rey. And this time, she couldn’t escape. Try as she might, she simply could not resist snapping at him when he said that he was only going to invite First Order officers. “You will not invite any of them to any wedding that I’m in, do you hear me?!”

Ben blinked and nodded. “You have to allow Hux. He’s being kind enough to help me plan the nuptials.”

“You have _General Hux_ wedding planning with you?” Rey cried.

Rose was blinking. “Rey?”

Realizing what she’d just done, Rey cringed. Hard. “Rose, I can explain.”

“Yes, let’s hear this,” Ben said sardonically.

Rey cut him an icy glare. “I have an, uh, well, it’s -“

Ben rolled his eyes, and wrote something on a sheet of paper. He handed it to Rey, who sighed as she took it. Ben had noticed the rose, and had badgered her to hand him things through the Bond to test its bounds. Rose gasped, the paper seeming to appear out of thin air.

“ _Hello, Ms. Tico. Kylo Ren sends his regards_ ,” Rose read aloud. She looked from the message to Rey. Her mouth worked for a moment before, “He has really pretty handwriting.”

Rey, whose handwriting looked like someone was trying to write Jawa with their non-dominant hand, sighed. “I know. Infuriating isn’t it?”

“He has prettier handwriting than General Organa.” For some reason that made Ben preen a little. “Is he . . . Is he planning your wedding?”

“Force knows why,” Rey muttered.

Rose looked from Rey to the corner of the room she continued to glare at. “You mean . . . During Crait . . . you . . .”

Another note appeared in Rey’s hands. “ _Were helping me come to power in the most thrilling way imaginable? Yes_.“

“The most thrilling way?” Rose continued.

Rey growled, but yet another message appeared on the paper. “ _It was beautiful Ms. Tico. Rey is so fierce when she fights._ “

“Will you stop that!” Rey snapped. “That’s it! Go away!” Somehow the command worked, and the connection closed.


	2. Chapter 2

Hux looked at the guest list. “So, we have myself and Dopheld Mitaka to represent the First Order, and then over a hundred Resistance - I’m sorry, my own survival may be on the line, but why in all the hells are we doing this every evening now?”

Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order cocked his head. “Great,” Hux muttered, “she’s here isn’t she?”

Kylo’s lips turned up at the corners, but Hux simply sighed. “You Force sensitives and your magic connections,” he muttered.

“Oh really? Convey my condolences to Rose then,” Kylo suddenly said aloud. He leaned over to see the seating arrangements. “Hux, we must move Ms. Tico. She and FN - I’m sorry, Finn - are not to sit together. They are going through a rather rough separation it seems.”

“Of course,” Hux said with thoughtful expression. “Rose, she is the girl . . . About yay-tall? Curly haired? Fiery disposition?”

His cheeks heated to an unflattering shade of scarlet as he felt Kylo Ren - hell, he even felt that Rey woman’s eyes too - looking at him as if he’d grown a second head. “Yes,” Kylo said slowly.

“Perhaps I should move her to the other side of the aisle then,” Hux said lightly. “Maybe next to me?”

Across the Bond, Rey - who was supposed to be meditating in her room per General Organa’s orders - gestured to Ben. “Is he serious?”

Ben shot her a look. “Apparently.”

Hux’s face turned even brighter. “I was just thinking that if the break up is that bad, then perhaps she should be as far from him as possible. For her comfort.”

“You have a crush on her,” Ben said.

“You tried to execute her!” Rey all but bellowed.

Hux through up his hands after Ben transmitted Rey’s words. “Yes! But you two are planning a wedding from opposite ends of the galaxy, my lord _Jedi Killer_ and my lady _Last Jedi_! So perhaps you two should be a little less judgemental about how everyone else falls into deep infatuation!”

Neither one of them had a retort for that.

* * *

Rose blinked when Rey told her. They were sitting on Rey’s bed, as had become their custom on evenings when Rose wasn’t with Finn. “So, General Hux has a crush on me?” 

Rose was taking the news extremely well. “Yes,” Rey replied.

The other woman chewed her lip. “I mean, one hand I’m really flattered, but on the other hand he is the guy who ordered the destruction of an entire planetary system. And my execution.”

“True,” Rey murmured. “Do you want to tell him that?”

Rose bit her lip and then nodded. She took the piece of paper Rey handed her - they had discovered early on that electronics and other higher forms of technology shorted out when passed through their Bond - and began to write her message.

_Hux, I’m really flattered that apparently you have a crush on me after I bit you and everything, but you are the man who tried to kill me. Technically twice. - Rose_

It took but a moment for a reply once Rey handed it through the Bond.

_Rose, I completely understand your sentiments. However, both of those actions were in war time conditions. At the moment we are at peace. I see no reason to belabor the past. If I may, though, I would like to say that it was the fact that you bit me that first brought you to my attention. I have seen many wither in the face of danger, yet you rose to it - pun not intended - and spit in danger’s face. Literally. It would be my honor if you were to just sit next to me at the wedding. - Hux_

_Ladies, just so you both know, he is a lovely shade of red. Looks a little like a cooked prawn. - Kylo_

The two women shared a look. After a moment of both of them trying desperately to hold it in, the giggles finally let free. “Oh my Gods,” Rose snorted. “Is he for real?”

Rey nodded. “I can never hear him, but it sounds about right from what I know.”

_Hux, so you like the fact that I bit you and spit in your face? That seems a little . . . strange. - Rose_

_Ben, please tell me you don’t approve of this? She’s my friend, and I thought Hux annoyed the both of us? - Rey_

* * *

_Rose, I am aware that my proclivities are strange, but I’m also afraid that my upbringing leads me to find weakness abhorrent. I am given to understand that we both have differing definitions of weakness, but I cannot deny that your strength shines from you like the sun. - Hux_

_Rey, Hux has . . . grown on me. He’s a supercilious nerfherder, but right now he’s my supercilious nerfherder. Plus neither one of us is particularly fond of Allegiant General Pryde or the First Order Council. As for his interest in Rose, I can’t really deny him his crush when he was correct to point out our own circumstances. - Kylo_

* * *

_Hux, My strength shines from me like the sun, hunh? That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me before. - Rose_

_Ben, you never tried to kill me. Twice. - Rey_

* * *

_Rose, Did that rogue Stormtrooper never compliment you? Allow me. You are a beautiful woman with the inner strength of durasteel. - Hux_

_Rey, True, but you did. - Kylo_

* * *

_Hux, You are really arrogant you know that? And come on, Rey is a beautiful woman, not me. - Rose_

_Ben, NO I DIDN’T! - Rey_

* * *

_Rose, I will not deny that Rey is an attractive woman, from the sketches I’ve seen Kylo Ren draw, but do not put yourself down. You are just as beautiful as she is. - Hux_

_Rey, Number one - Starkiller. Number two - the first time our bond manifested. - Kylo_

At this point, the two women stared at the last lines of each note with a thoughtful sigh. They looked to each other, and then began to laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this started skewing to being an equal parts Reylo and Roux fic, so sorry if you're not into that! The original prompt mentioned a bad break up and Hux wanted to sit next to Rose soooooooo . . . yeah.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed it so far.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebel Rebel

And thus began the note passing. For a solid month, the quartet consisting of the Supreme Leader, his highest ranked General, the Last Jedi, and a Resistance mechanic met in the evenings. Hux and Rose discovered a mutual love of engineering and mechanical sciences, while Ben and Rey discussed her training. Over time, Rose even grew comfortable enough to give the two men nicknames - Hux became Tage since she felt that calling him by his surname was too formal, and Ben became Kylo Ben since he and Rey still refused to agree on what his name was.

Throughout it all, they discussed the wedding. After color schemes and guest lists came venues and dress selection. Dress selection alone had taken two weeks just because Rey had never had access to a catalog before, and Ben delighted in using a holo projector to model each dress for her. While they did that, Rose and Hux made pithy comments from the side, and indulged in note-driven flirting. The only thing that they both had instantly agreed on was the venue - the Amidala Memorial Gardens on Naboo. When Rey saw a holo of them she fell instantly in love. Rose agreed, and the two men had shared a look of understanding and a small smile.

It was a strange, but lovely relationship for all involved. 

That is, until the end of the month came, and a large battle was fought between the Resistance near Takodana and the First Order. The Resistance had won, but at a terrible cost.

Rey and Rose were again in Rey’s quarters, discussing the battle. Specifically, the prisoners of war taken by the Resistance. For hours, Rey had been grappling with her feelings. She loved Ben - she had no doubt about that now - but how could she love the man who had just tried to destroy her friends. She bit her lip. “But do you . . . Do you ever wonder if it wouldn’t be better to kill the past? What’s the point of locking a person away or killing them if they are never forced to deal with their crimes and atone for them?”

Rose knew that Rey was talking about more than just the POWs here. “I guess you have a point. But come on Rey, neither one of them has shown the slightest inclination to give up the First Order. I . . . I really like Tage. I know you’re pretty much in love with Kylo Ben.”

Rey sighed, and her neck prickled as the Bond opened. She looked to Ben, and found him sitting at his desk with Hux. “We were going to discuss the wedding dinner,” Ben said quietly.

“Ben,” Rey said softly.

“What?” He replied.

“This has gone on long enough.” Rey looked to Rose. In her head she could see the broken bodies of the two pilots they’d lost in the fight. Her heart squeezed, but there was no anger or disappointment in him, only sorrow. “I wanted to take your hand on the _Supremacy_. I wanted to take _Ben Solo’s_ hand, but you’re still Kylo Ren - you still insist you’re him. I . . . I don’t think I can do this anymore. Please, just leave me alone. Stop planning this stupid wedding. I don’t _want_ to be the Empress of the galaxy. I just want to be . . .” She sighed heavily, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. “I just want to be Ben Solo’s wife.”

She waved her hand, and broke the connection.

* * *

Half a galaxy away, Hux watched Kylo Ren . . . Deflate. That was the best word for the way his body folded in on itself. “I take it that didn’t go well?”

“She told me to leave her alone. That she would have taken . . .” Kylo Ren stopped. 

Hux looked down at his datapad. “What do you want to do, Kylo?”

Looking up, the Supreme Leader of the First Order made a decision. “Hux . . . Tage. What do you want more, the power of the First Order, or Rose Tico?”

Hux blinked. He opened his mouth, and then closed it. “I’d like to say both, but I know that would not happen. Rose would sooner die that join us.” He frowned down at his datapad. “You know, this used to be all I wanted.”

The two men shared a silent stare. “Do you know,” Hux finally said, “that this is the first time in my life where I think I can say that I have friends? And to think, I consider you one of them.”

“Do you know,” Kylo replied, “That I think Snoke set us against each other on purpose? I think he knew what we could accomplish on our own and was afraid of what we could do together.”

Hux tapped a few keys on his datapad. His eyes were razor sharp as he looked up, and a very un-Hux-like, but maybe very _Tage-like_ grin split his face. “You know that Allegiant General Pryde and the rest of the Council will not give up this fight. They are too invested in the First Order. You can’t just declare it defunct.”

“Then let’s bring it down from the inside,” Ben Solo said with a small smile not unlike his father’s.

* * *

“General Organa, you’re not going to believe this,” Poe cried.

Leia looked up from where she was instructing Rey on something from one of the texts, and Rey glanced between them. “What’s wrong?”

“Spit it out Dameron!” Leia echoed.

His eyes were wide and wild. “The First Order is in chaos! There are Stormtrooper rebellions flaring up all over. They’re putting them down, but we’ve got word that at least two rogue battalions have broken away under the leadership of . . .” Poe stopped, taking a deep breath. “Under Ben Solo.”

Leia froze, as did Rey. “Go on,” the older woman said.

“Resistance allies are also getting data packets sent through subspace satellite arrays. Apparently someone calling himself Tage Hux has uploaded as much of the First Order’s data to the holonet as possible. I’m talking ship schematics, armaments, money trails, the works!”

Rey felt her heart beginning to swell. Leia nodded with a small grin. She looked to Rey. “So that’s what you’ve been doing.”

Before she could ask what Leia meant, another shout came from outside. The Resistance had taken refuge on Endor, and as Leia and Rey hurried outside behind Poe, the sun was high in the sky. “Come see this!” Connix called. “It’s being broadcast on all known First Order frequencies!”

The crowd parted, allowing the General and Rey to get close. Rose squeezed in too. The picture was black at first, but then changed to two faces. For Rose and Rey, two familiar, beloved faces. Tage and Kylo Ben faced the screen, both with haughty looks on their faces. But Rey recognized the look in Ben’s eyes. He was excited. “This is a transmission to all ships, bases, and stations within the First Order. I, General Armitage Hux, have an announcement to make on behalf of myself and the Supreme Leader.”

He took a breath, and shot Ben a barely there smile. “It has come to our attention, that the First Order is fundamentally flawed. What is preached as being a way to bring order to the galaxy has only not done so, it has simply sown more chaos. Not only that, it began and continues to run on the backs of exploited and brainwashed children. From the Stormtroopers stolen from their families, to those of us who were raised by old Empire sympathizers too bitter about their loss to move on. We at the top can never truly understand what has been done to those below, but we can try to atone for it, and for all the harm we have done in the name of a cause that was never truly our own. This sham of an organization merely seeks to recreate what was lost in a galaxy fatigued by constant war and conflict. We have decided that it ends now. It ends today.”

He took another breath. “Stormtroopers, you poor children taken and brainwashed to listen to any superior officer’s orders, I give this to you - my final order. The Supreme Leader’s final order.”

He smiled, a true smile that Rey had never seen on his face. Ben did too, and she heard Leia gasp. “Let us do as my mother has always done,” Ben said in his deep, dark voice, “ _Rebel_.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure I've seen a proposal for Armitage's nickname to be Tage somewhere before, so please be aware that it is not my invention. >.< Full credit to whoever I got the idea from! Sorry!


	4. Chapter 4

The screen went blank.

There was an outbreak of murmuring, but Rey and Rose were grinning at each other. They really wanted to squeal and giggle and hop around like the young women then truly were, but held onto themselves. Leia turned back to them, and smiled again at Rey. “So, you did manage to bring him back.”

“How did you know?” Rey asked softly, but not softly enough. Poe was listening intently. 

The older woman smiled. “I felt it. The Force warps oddly around the bond you have with my son.”

“With all due respect, General, what are you talking about?” Poe piped up. He looked between the two of them suspiciously. 

Leia gave him a look. “I will discuss this later, Dameron.”

Poe cut his eyes to Rey and Rose. “Again, with all due respect, I think we all need to know what’s going on.” He gestured to the crowd around them. “I’m not trying to make this a repeat of our escape, but why is Rey involved in this?”

Leia looked at him, and then looked at Rey. She nodded to the younger woman. Rey glanced back to Rose, and then up to everyone. She took a deep breath. “It’s hard to explain. I . . . I have a bond with Kylo Ren.”

More murmurs broke out, this time louder. Angrier. “You have a what?!” Poe burst out. 

Rey clenched her jaw, fighting down her anger. “I told you. I have a Force Bond with Kylo Ren - Ben Solo. I have a Force Bond with Ben Solo.”

“How long?” Poe pressed. “How long have you had this Force Bond?”

Rey stared him down. “Ever since Starkiller.”

Poe threw up his hands. “Ever since Starkiller?!” he all but bellowed. “You mean to tell me you’ve kept this secret for nearly six months?”

“Wait,” Finn broke in, his eyes frantically going from Poe to Rey and back. “What even is a Force Bond?”

“I can . . . talk to him. Without needing comm equipment.” The murmurs turned into a dull roar.

Poe shook his head. “You can talk to him. And you didn’t think to tell anyone?”

“No, because I knew you’d do this!” Rey cried out, sweeping her hands to take in the crowd. 

“Enough!” Leia bellowed. Everyone quieted. “Poe, do you trust me?”

“Yes,” he answered without thought.

“Then trust me when I say that it’s alright.”

The murmurs returned.

* * *

Three days passed in tense silence. Rey did not open the Bond, and Ben didn’t try. Very few of the Resistance were willing to speak to Rey, and Rose had to be reprimanded several times when she vociferously defended Rey’s honor. Poe was still spiting mad, and Finn was anxious, unsure of how to navigate this fight between his friends. Through it all, Rey came to a startling conclusion.

“They’ve never really accepted me, have they,” she said to Rose on the evening of the third day.

Rose bit her lip. “It’s hard for them. You’ve been very sweet to everyone, but . . . you never really tried to get to know anyone besides me and Finn and Poe. I’m not going to lie, I kinda think the reason you got to know me and Poe is actually because of Finn. It’s hard for them to trust someone they feel like they barely know, and to top it off, you were speaking to the leader of the other side of the war. I mean _, I_ know that you and Ben only ever talked wedding stuff and gossip, but that’s because I was there. I was allowed in.”

Rey sighed. “I’ve been thinking. Maybe . . . Maybe I should go to Ben.”

“You don’t know where he is.”

She shook her head. “I don’t have to.”

Rose blinked, but then her jaw dropped. “You think you can transport _yourself_ through?”

“It’s worth a try.”

Rose bit her lip again, chewing for a moment. Then she held up a hand. “Give me a few minutes.”

Rey watched her friend, and after the few minutes were up, Rose bounded back into Rey’s room with a satchel. “Send me first.”

“But -“ Then Rey smiled. “Ok. Let’s do it.”

She took a moment to gather up her own things. It was a meager lot, but into her satchel went the Jedi texts and her half repaired lightsaber. A change of clothes went in and she was ready to go. The two women took a moment to gather themselves before Rey mentally reached out. She felt Ben reciprocate, and suddenly, there he was. 

He hadn’t shaved. It was the first thing she noticed. A dusting of stubble coated his chin, and his eyes looked tired. He was standing on the bridge of a destroyer, probably the one he’d commandeered. “Rey?” he murmured.

She tossed him her satchel, and then Rose’s. He caught them, and she saw other people around him startle. To them the bags must have appeared out of thin air. “What are you doing?”

“Is Tage there?” Rey asked.

“Tage is coming up to the bridge yes -“ he began, but was interrupted. “What about Tage?”

The man in question entered the bridge holding a steaming cup of caf. “Is Rey finally speaking to you? Wait, where did those bags come from?”

Rey took Rose’s hand, and then pulled her over to Ben. With a blink, he finally caught on. “Wait, are we sure about this?”

“How many Roses of Alderaan did you pass me?” Rey replied. “Take her hand.”

Ben reached out, and took Rose’s hand. Rose gasped, finally able to see the former Supreme Leader, and his bridge. He pulled her through, until she stood beside him on the bridge. She swallowed. “Whoa.”

“Rose?” Tage breathed.

She smiled, and ran to him. She through her arms around him, and he returned the hug gratefully. Rey reached out, Ben smiled as he took her hand. He pulled her through, and she wasted no time. As soon as she felt the distortion slide away, she pulled him down for a kiss. His lips were warm and soft, and she almost missed the cheer that went up throughout the bridge. As they slowly broke apart, Rey gazed lovingly into Ben’s eyes.

“Ben?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Call your mother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long. I've been battling illness and clogged toilets this week. It's really killed my desire to write, so the last part still needs to be written. But I'm glad you've enjoyed the ride!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben finally calls mom.

Calling his mother turned out to be somewhat more difficult than she originally imagined. Rey and Rose had transported themselves in the middle of a prolonged battle, one where the factions of the former First Order were fighting over several Core Worlds. Fortunately for the Resistance and its new erstwhile allies, Coruscant and the other Core Worlds were ready to follow Ben Solo’s commands. Apparently revealing that he was Leia Organa’s son was enough to have many of the old New Republic on his side. 

Scores of battalions had also already defected. Thousands of Stormtroopers were coming to their aid, but the battle lasted several weeks. In the end, it was Ben’s mother who called him. “Sir! There is an incoming message for you. From Leia Organa.”

Rey looked up from where she was reading a passage from one of Luke’s journals at one of the unused consoles. Since the Battle for the Core had ended three days ago, most of the bridge crew had been given time off to rest. Ben glanced back at her, and smiled. “Put her on.”

“This is General Leia Organa -“

“Mama.”

After a moment of tense silence, a broken sob came through the comm. “Ben?"

“I’m sorry Mama,” he said. “For everything.”

Leia’s voice was stronger as she replied. “We’ve all done things we’re not proud of. I . . . I should never have let my fear of what your grandfather was color how I looked at you. I failed you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Ben said, with a sad smile. “It’s alright.”

The poignant moment was broken by a loud slurp - which, coincidentally, could be heard all the way back at the Rebel base too - and a sigh. “As lovely this reunion is, does this call have anything at all to do with the war that’s going on, because otherwise it needs to be transferred to private channels.”

“Tage!”

He glared at the woman at his elbow. “What? Rose, they are taking up important channels while we’re still waiting to hear back from -“

“Tico?” Leia snapped. “You have Rose Tico aboard?”

“To be fair,” Rey finally piped up. “I’m here too. Rose came with me.”

“ _I knew it!_ “ Poe howled in the background of Leia’s end. “I told you Finn! They went running to Rey’s boyfriend -“

“Excuse me,” Rose snapped, “I went running to _my_ boyfriend thank you. He just happened to be on the same ship as hers.”

There was another beat of fraught silence, and then the howls of Poe and Finn, while Leia audibly face palmed. “ _Enough!_ “ she finally roared.

Ben chuckled. “Mama?”

“Yes?” she asked wearily.

“Would you like to come to my wedding?”

* * *

Suffice to say that after another year of furious fighting, the wedding between the former First Leader and the Last Jedi became the event of the century. Ben balked when he realized just _how fucking many_ people were coming to the wedding, and the fact that it was going to be broadcast across the galaxy. Rey was bemused, but not outright unhappy about it. Tage and Rose were ecstatic because they had both discovered a love of wedding planning. Leia was only too happy to help as well.

The Amidala Memorial Gardens was a venue usually used for large gatherings, so the Naboo Memorial Committee was all too happy to allow them to use the facilities. Ben did finally put his foot down that he was okay with the wedding being broadcast, but the reception afterward was only for a select few. Rey seconded the notion, and the Tico-Hux-Organa trifecta put it into motion. 

Everything was as they had planned. Roses of Alderaan and Naboo Hydrangea dripped from the arbor under which the priest would preside. Rey’s updo - a confection of braids that criss-crossed the crown and back of her head - was liberally sprinkled with the blooms as well to the point that the intricate braid work was almost totally obscured. Rey’s bouquet was also full of the flowers, and trimmed with ribbons of blue and red. 

The guests sat on benches of hardy Naboo oak, carved with swirling, arching curves. As Ben looked out across the crowd, his initial nerves went quiet. He did not enjoy the attention, but he saw Rey at the head of the aisle. His smile was so brilliant that it made everyone in the audience return it, and just as the priest called them stand, they turned and beheld the reason for it. Rey was dressed in a gown of gold and white, the intricate beading forming a starburst pattern over her chest and torso. A cape flowed from her shoulders, and the train was long and made of gorgeous satin. The skirt hugged her hips, flaring out to swish gently around her legs. The enterprising dressmaker - who would soon see an upswing in her business - had worked in swirling blue hydrangea blossoms along the edges of the original starburst and down the skirts for a personalized touch. She wore no veil, only the flowers that they had chosen over a year before. 

When she arrived at Ben’s side, everyone cooed over the scene they made. Rey all in white and gold, Ben all in red and black. He wore a surcoat of black worked with red rose embroidery along the collar and cuffs. The tails of the coat extended to his knees, and the same rose patterns faded into existence around his waist to the edges of the tail, the ombre from black to red so vivid yet so subtle that it wasn’t until the light hit the fabric just right for people to realize that the entire coat was embroidered with black roses as well. His hair had been left loose, and he’d grown it out in the last year, as well as keeping his neat and trim goatee. His trousers and boots were left plain, but it enhanced rather than detracted from the beauty of the rest of his clothing. 

Neither participant really remembered the ceremony afterward, too excited and scared. They’d lived together for over a year, but this was their _wedding_. At the end, the priest blessed them, and the crowd cheered, and they recessed back down the aisle waving as everyone from Resistance pilots to former Stormtroopers cheered them. At last the crowd and the camera drones were behind them and the two shared a smile. “I love you,” Rey murmured.

“I love you too,” Ben whispered back. 

Suddenly, the hair stood up on the back of both of their necks. They whipped their heads back forward, alert but not threatened. There, standing before them was another couple. However, they were wispy, solid yet not, and limed in blue light. The man had a scar running across his eye, and he wore the robes of a Jedi. The woman was shorter than even Rey, but held herself with such a regal air that she could have been taller for all Rey truly knew. She was dressed in an ornate dress that Rey recognized from Leia’s collection. The dress had belonged to Leia’s biological mother. 

“Padme Amidala,” Rey murmured.

Ben stiffened, and then returned his gaze to the man. If the woman was Padme . . . “Grandfather?”

Anakin Skywalker smiled. “You finally did it,” came his soft, echoing voice, “You’re finishing what I started.”

The ghostly couple turned and left, and Rey and Ben finally realized that their family and friends were clamoring behind them, waiting for the couple to proceed. They finally continued on, but neither one spoke until they were alone in their dressing room in the reception hall. Ben helped Rey tie up her train, and then he spoke. “They were my grandparents.”

Rey’s eyes filled with tears. “What did he mean, finishing what he started?”

“He fell to the Dark side trying to save his beloved’s life,” Ben murmured. “They were married in secret, and my uncle and mother were their children.”

Rey touched her stomach, remembering the moments of queasiness she’d had the last few days. She’d attributed it to nerves over the wedding, but now . . . now she wasn’t so sure. Ben didn’t miss the action, and his eyes widened. “Do you think?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “We . . . we did have that one time . . .”

His lips quirked. “That’s all it takes.” Then he laughed. “I never thought I’d have this. Any of this.”

“Honestly? Me neither.” She laid a hand on his cheek. “Do we tell everyone?”

He shook his head. “Let’s just enjoy tonight. You and I both know that if we tell anyone my mother and her new favorite minions will be planning a baby shower during dinner.”

Rey laughed and nodded, and the happy couple walking into the party. Finn and Poe were already dancing along with several other couples, and Rey was pleased to see Chewie out on the floor too with a female Wookie that they’d met in the past few months. Rose and Tage were off in the corner, excitedly planning their own upcoming nuptials, and Kaydel Connix was helping a former Stormtrooper known as Jannah to demolish the buffet table full of bite-sized goodies. Off in another corner, Lando Calrissian and Leia reminisced about Han, and Luke, and the old days, both of them smiling fondly at the young ones having a blast around them. 

And standing unseen in the reception hall’s balcony, those that came before from Jedi Knights to former queens and slaves watched their children and grandchildren, hope for the future restored to all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU ALL FOR READING~
> 
> And I'm sorry that this took so long to get out. >.< My first trimester has been hell on my energy levels, and this is literally the first night in like four weeks that I've felt like actually getting online on my laptop.


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